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Santi, a member of Xicana Moratorium Coalition, talks at the 8/7 Block Party about how we can unite and reclaim our communities by taking pride in our art and culture, and connecting community members to resources and information.

Sal, a Fruitvale resident that volunteered to do security during the 8/7 Block Party, talks about how a major part of creating safe spaces is building community.

A lot of times people think we need to call the police for security, but if we reach out to community members and initiate some dialogue to get on the same page, then we can definitely come together and create our own safe spaces and communities. How do YOU create safe spaces in your home/school/at work/in your neighborhood? PLEASE COMMENT BELOW!

For examples of organizations that work to create safe & healthy communites, check out some of our Community Allies.

An array of family, youth and cultural workers, organizers and local leaders came together yesterday in Oakland to share our grief around the violence in our communities, to stand in solidarity with families who’ve lost their loved ones, and to continue to fight against injunctions and for self-determination. We continue to stand strong in the struggle for safer streets through sustainable means, rather than letting sadness and fear lead to more policing and systemic violence.

Fact check: Be sure to note that the news anchor is *incorrect* when she says that there are two injunctions in place in Oakland, in the North and in West Oakland. There is *no* injunction in place in West Oakland!

If you are a part of an organization, please sign on to this letter reminding City Council-members of their decision on May 17th to not enact any further gang injunctions. If you are a community member interested in plugging into the work, please email us at stoptheinjunction@gmail.com.

As you know, last Friday was John Russo’s last day as the City Attorney of Oakland. His plan to roll out a series of gang injunctions across Oakland was met with strong, well organized opposition and a firestorm of controversy. Unable to take the heat, Russo is moving on to take a position as City Manager for Alameda. As Russo and OPD chief Anthony Batts seemed to be the only genuine proponents of the gang injunctions, Russo’s resignation signals a major victory in the fight against the use of injunctions in our city.

Our work together to build a broad, diverse, dynamic movement against gang injunctions helped apply pressure to Russo and the City Attorney’s office, exposed their wasteful use of city resources during tight economic times, and ensured that the voices of people across Oakland were heard.

We know this fight is much bigger than any one person. And the fight against the implementation of the pending injunction in the Fruitvale and the temporary injunction in North Oakland continues. We need to keep up the opposition to the injunctions even as we continue to demonstrate ways of building the kind of neighborhood safety that really works in the long term. As we take a moment to celebrate the tremendous victories we have already won, as we move into the next phase of this struggle for self-determination, our commitment and solidarity are more important than ever.

We’re including the following video to remind ourselves why we’re happy to say goodbye to John Russo:

“We want education, we we want education! Keep us out of jail, keep keep us out of jail! No police violence, no no police violence! Stop the gang injunctions, stop STOP THE GANG INJUNCTIONS!”

-Youth chant as they marched to City Hall to voice their demands and stop the injunctions.

MONDAY– 2/28 Press Conference @ Fremont Federation of Schools

Speakers included:

Betty Olson-Jones, President of the Oakland Education Association; Candice Valenzuela of Media College Preparatory High School in the Fruitvale; and Jackie García of Xicáno Moratorium Coalition will speak out against the injunctions and draw attention to trade offs in the City’s budget priorities.

WEDNESDAY– 3/2 Day of Education & Youth Concert

“We want the funding that is going into these gang injunctions to be going towards our education, after school programs, thing that will actually be helping out community.” -One of the Youth who was part of the High school walk out that kicked off the Friday rally.